When I was a boy in the days of the trainI'd sit by the tracks on a long summer dayAnd I'd wave at the brakesman, And he'd wave back at meWhile the thunderclouds rolled... Out of East Tennessee

But the dreams of a boy disappear when you're grownAnd though I may dream, the railroads are goneThe ties they are rotten And the tracks shot to hellAlong with my dreams... and the old railroad bell

In my dreams I ride the rails to CaliforniaWorkin' diners and farms along the wayOr I'd hop a ride to hide across the borderWith a black eyed girl beside me all the way

Now the mountains are silent And the railroads are goneAnd the coal towns no longer hear the miners at dawnBut the train whistle shrills out her memories to meWhile the thunderclouds roll... out of East Tennessee

In my dreams I ride the rails to CaliforniaWorkin' diners and farms along the wayOr I'd hop a ride to hide across the borderWith a black eyed girl beside me all the way

Now the mountains are silent And the railroads are goneAnd the coal towns no longer hear the miners at dawnBut the train whistle shrills out her memories to meWhile the thunderclouds roll... out of East Tennessee